Training device for children



May 12, 1959 F. POULS TRAINING DEVICE FOR CHILDREN Filed Aug. 16, 1956 ll IIVIIIIII INVENTOR. FRANC/S FOUL 5 United States Patent This invention relates to training devices, and more I fines the sole tooth particularly to a training device of the amusement type which is adapted to encourage children to form the habit of brushing their teeth with regularity.

It is well known that the junior variety of the organic species, homo sapiens, is by nature disinclined to do those things which their elders want them to do for their own best interests. This includes the matter of teeth brushing. It is also well known that children can be encouraged to do such things if the procedure involved in doing them is made into a game or a routine that holds their interest or amuses them.

The essential object of the present invention is to provide a game or amusefent device which is adapted from the psychological standpoint to encourage children to brush their teeth and which is adapted to be selfoperated by children for this purpose and for the further purpose of providing them with visual means to indicate and measure the length of time that should be consumed in the brushing operation.

This and other objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following description taken in conjunction with the drawing forming part of this specification, and in which:

Figure 1 is a view in front elevation of a form of amusement device embodying the concept of the present invention;

Figure 2 is a top plan view of the device of Figure 1; and

Figure 3 is an enlarged view in section taken along lines 33 of Figure 2.

With reference to the drawing, the form of the subject amusement device shown therein is comprised of a front planar member 10, a rear planar member 12 disposed in spaced and parallel relation with member 10, a pair of side members 14 mutually secured to members 10 and 12 and serving to connect these members together, a screw 16 extending through members 10 and 12 and journalled for rotation therein, a knob 18 secured to the end of screw 16, and an hourglass 20 having its restricted central portion fixedly secured to screw 16. Many appropriate means maybe employed to secure the hourglass to screw 16. For example, the central restricted portion of the glass may be brought into engagement with either side of the screw and secured thereto by tape, a clamp, or the like. In the drawing, the central restricted portion of the glass is shown as having its longitudinal axis disposed in the same plane in which the longitudinal axis of the screw 16 resides. This may be done by drilling a hole transversely through screw 16, said hole being sufficiently large to accommodate the central restn'cted portion of the glass, forming an angular cut 22 in the screw to intersect the drilled hole, bending the tongue defined by the cut 22 outwardly to provide room for the introduction of the central restricted portion of the glass into the drilled hole, and bending the tongue portion of the screw back to its initial position to embrace the restricted portion of the glass.

As shown in Figure 1, the front member 10 is peripherally cut away to define the outline of the head of a clown, and the features of the face of the clown character are appropriately set forth by means of suitable lines and, preferably, vivid coloration. An opening 23 formed in the member 10 defines an open mouth for the clown character; the knob 18 defines the nose of the clown character; and the lower end of the hourglass 20 which is visible through the mouth opening 23 deof the clown character which is in evidence.

The outer surfaces 24 of the arcuate back walls of both of the bulbous ends of the glass 20 are painted black. The glass is partially filled with white granular material 26, such as fine white beach sand, and the amount of this material is such that it will fully occupy that portion of the glass 20 which is viewable through the mouth opening 23. The time for transfer of the sand from one end of the glass to the other is about two or three minutes, i. e. the time that a child should take on the average to go through a proper and complete tooth brushing operation. The device is provided with a hanger means, such as 28, so that it may be hung on the wall in position a to be observed by the child while he is brushing his teeth and manipulated by the child before he starts to brush his teeth.

In educating a child to use the device, an exemplary procedure is for an adult to get the child in condition to commence the tooth brushing operation and to then rotate the clowns nose 18 to bring the empty end of the glass into view within the clowns mouth 23. The clowns tooth then appears to be black. The child is then made aware of the fact that such appearance of the tooth is significant of an unhealthful state of the tooth and that this is a condition that can result because of any one of a number of reasons, including failure to brush ones teeth. To prevent the impact of such revelation from preying on the childs mind to the point where perhaps he begins to wish he had no teeth at all to worry about, the older person advises him that if he will commence to immediately brush his teeth he will perceive in the countenance of the clown the beneficial results that may be obtained thereby. While the child then brushes his teeth, he observes that the color of the clowns tooth gradually turns white. This invariably delights the child and induces him to thereafter regularly brush his teeth without the need of any prompting by his parents because he thereafter considers the matter of teeth brushing in company with operation of the subject device to be a sort of game, or source of amusement.

Since the device also serves as a timer for the brushing operation, the child will be usually found to be brushing for the full period of time required for the tooth to turn white, i.e. about two or three minutes.

It is important for the purposes of this invention that the device have the external appearance of a living creature, such as a person or an animal, as otherwise the desired psychological effect arising in part out of the development by the child of a feeling of friendship for the device is not obtained. It is also important that the one or more teeth of the creature represented by the device be caused to change from a color which is representative of an undesirable tooth condition, such as black, yellow etc., to the color white which is representative of a desirable tooth condition. It is desirable although not an essential part of the invention that the tooth or teeth which convey the impression of color change remain in the same position with respect to the mouth of the character represented during the period of color change. The form of the invention shown and described may be otherwise varied within the spirit of the invention and the scope of the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. A device of the class described comprising a platelike member having obverse and reverse sides, said member having defined on the obverse side thereof a representation of the face portion of the head of a living creature, an opening formed in said member, said opening defining the mouth of said represented creature, an hourglass disposed in juxtaposition to said member at the reverse side thereof, means pivotally mounting said hourglass for rotative movement in a path disposed in parallel relation to the plane of said member, said hourglass having its pivotal axis disposed above said mouth opening whereby the ends of said hourglass may be selectively positioned for viewing through said mouth opening, said hourglass being formed of a transparent material and having therein a quantity of white granular material sufiicient to fill that end of said hourglass which is viewable through said mouth opening, whereby said filled end is representative of a white tooth, said hourglass being further characterized by having the rearward side thereof coated with a non-white material which is significant of an undesirable tooth condition, whereby when the end of said hourglass viewable through said mouth opening is substantially devoid of said white granular material said end is representative of a tooth having an undesirable condition, and means for rotating said hourglass to selectively position an end of said hourglass so that it may be viewed through said mouth opening.

2. The device of claim 1, said means for rotating said glass comprising a knob attached to said means for pivotally mounting said hourglass, said knob being disposed at the obverse side of said member and forming the nose of said represented creature.

3. A device of the class described comprising an hourglass, means for supporting the same for rotation so that either end thereof may be selectively disposed downwardly, and means for causing the downwardly disposed end of said glass to signify to an observer that it is the tooth of a creature which changes color over a predetermined time from off-white to white, said means comprising: opaque sheet means positioned in front of said hourglass adjacent thereto, means defining on said sheet means the'face ofsaid creature, an opening through said sheet means defining the mouth of said creature, the downwardly disposed end of said hourglass being viewable through said opening, said hourglass being formed of transparent material, a quantity of white sand within said hourglass sufficient to fill that portion of the downwardly disposed end of said hourglass which is viewable through said opening, and an oif-white color coating disposed at the rearward side of said hourglass, said coating being viewable through said opening when the downwardly disposed end of said glass is empty of said sand.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 679,701 Michaelson July 30, 1901 961,262 Slough June 14, 1910 1,923,978 Hill Aug. 22, 1933 1,973,390 Plants Sept. 11, 1934 2,716,839 Young Sept. 6, 1955 2,824,418 Hilbert Feb. 25, 1958 

